This picture reminds me of the children’s book I used to read to my daughters, long ago, in which a lost little bird kept asking different things if they were its mother.
Critter of the Day: are you my mother?
purple finch
Critter of the Day: finches in the storm
A couple of last photos taken during the snow storm in the middle of April.
The blowing snow didn’t stop these hardy little birds!
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Critter of the Day: finch on a lilac branch
This photo was taken just days before the snow storm hit, in the middle of April.
Such a lovely, warm and sunny day.
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Critter of the Day: finches on lilacs
These were taken during the snow storm we got in the middle of April.
They all look rather irritated by the weather. LOL
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Critter of the Day: angry bird!
I wouldn’t want to meet this purple finch in a dark alley. He looks like he’s ready to peck someone’s eyes out!
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Critter of the Day: purple finch
This one is the last of the photos from March that I’ll be posting.
It’s nice to see the purple finches back!
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A bit blustery out there!
First up, here are a couple of bird photos for you to enjoy. :-)
My husband got this purple finch at the feeder not long ago.
And I finally got a blue jay picture!
The blue jays have a habit of taking off before I can get to the camera, so these days, it’s a challenge to get any pictures of them at all.
This was another indoor day, for the most part. There were plenty of storm warnings for the southern province which, for us, translated to rain early in the morning, and now high winds. I had to go into town to pick up some prescription refills, and made a point of checking the yard out before I left. There were a few downs branches that were of little concern. In the areas of the maple grove I haven’t cleaned yet, I found myself looking at some branches and wondering, is that new? Or what that already there?
About the only good thing right now is the wind direction. If one of the trees by the house does come down, it’ll be fall away from the roof, instead of on it. Though, looking out my window at the trees behind the storage house, it’s the opposite. At least that building is empty and has no power.
Speaking of which…
The second tree care company came by on Monday, and I got the estimate emailed to me last night. It’s basically the same as the first company; $1500. Looking over our budget (barring any unexpected expenses), we should be able to get it done in November. Choosing the company is going to be a bit more difficult; they’re pretty equal in every tangible sense. One also does yard work and landscaping, which I would want to keep in mind for the future. The other does trees and nothing else.
So we have some talking to do and a decision to make. I’m just glad it’s something we can get done before winter, instead of waiting until spring. Though if we get some sort of cash infusion (like the shares the housing co-op we moved away from still owes us!), it would be good to get it done earlier.
The Re-Farmer
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Royal Colours
More goldfinches came, en masse – with a purple finch joining them for a bit!
My older daughter took the photos with the purple finch. :-)
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A Day for the Birds
With the fires in the area, it’s no surprise that we aren’t seeing any deer, at all. It has, however, been a day full of birds outside our window.
Mr. Blue Jay allowed me to take his photograph today, though they certainly did make me work for a good shot!
In amongst the masses of bark eyed juncos, this bird went off into the flower garden and started digging like mad into the dried leaves.
I’ve had two strong suggestions as to what this bird is. Either a fox sparrow, or a type of thrush. I spent some time looking and comparing photos online to ones I’d taken myself.
Bird identification sites often have really unhelpful photos, I’ve come to notice.
Ultimately, it was the markings on the head that made the ID for me. These are fox sparrows, of the “red” variety.
Speaking of red.
I had taken so many pictures of these red birds before the snow fell, but it never occurred to me to try and identify them. I think I may have just lumped them in as another type of bird in my mind. While looking up local bird species online, however, I found photos of these guys, and it turns out they are purple finches. In the above photo, you see both the bright red males, and the less showy females.
As I was zooming in to get photos of what I though might have been the thrush/fox sparrow I wanted to identify, the bird turned and I realized I was looking at a new visitor!
This is a male white throated sparrow. Love that distinctive patterning on the head. It made it much easier to identify it, though it wasn’t any easier to find online. My bird book doesn’t have it at all, though it does have several other types of sparrows.
Just look at the face! :-D
Looks like some females were in the crowd, too.
Weather willing, I will soon be raking near this area, to get some of the leaves out of the flower bed and clean up dead branches. We are finally starting to see some green forcing its way through the dead leaves. Not too much longer, and we’ll be able to start trying to identify the plants around here, as well as the birds! :-)
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 